The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Wireless local area network (WLAN) technology has evolved rapidly over the past decade. Development of WLAN standards such as the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n Standards has improved single-user peak data throughput. For example, the IEEE 802.11b Standard specifies a single-user peak throughput of 11 megabits per second (Mbps), the IEEE 802.11a and 802.11g Standards specify a single-user peak throughput of 54 Mbps, and the IEEE 802.11n Standard specifies a single-user peak throughput of 600 Mbps. Work has begun on a new standard, IEEE 802.11ac, that promises to provide even greater throughput.
In one embodiment, a method comprises determining that each first communication device in a plurality of first communication devices has respective data to be transmitted to a second communication device, and transmitting a request to the plurality of first communication devices to transmit data to the second communication device simultaneously during a transmit opportunity period of the second communication device. The method also comprises receiving, at the second communication device, data simultaneously transmitted by the plurality of first communication devices during the transmit opportunity period of the second communication device. In another embodiment, a network interface is configured to perform the acts of the method described above.